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Jazz Articles | Future
Blues Deluxe 2
The cultural fragmentation of recent decades or so has resulted in such a multiplicity of niche categories that the blues community only benefits by its long-term loyalty to the genre. Yet even the oftentimes arbitrary nature of the categorization(s) can't prevent the cross-pollination of styles. And, reasonably speaking, who wants to argue the dividing lines between country, blues and folk music? Not genuinely devoted music-lovers with an inveterate appetite for the likes of Eric Bibb, Greg Wickham and Steve Krase, ...
read moreSimon Sammut: Crossing
'Crossing' is one of those versatile terms that can be taken many different ways--among other things, it can signify the traversing of a place or boundary, a meeting spot where roads pass each other, or perhaps the act of combining individual things together into a new whole. Simon Sammut means the word in all those senses on his second album. Crossing offers meditative instrumental pieces based on a dozen different concepts, also accompanying each one with a thoughtful background description ...
read moreAlexander Hawkins: Unit[e]
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With each subsequent release, pianist-composer Alexander Hawkins further cements his place in the top tier of modern, forward-thinking artists. The Oxford, UK native has worked as a leader in nonet, ensemble, quartet, trio and solo formats and is a member of the Convergence Quartet featuring cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, drummer Harris Eisenstadt, and bassist Dominic Lash. Increasingly in-demand, Hawkins has recently recorded with Evan Parker on the duo release Leaps in Leicester (Clean Feed, 2016) and with Rob Mazurek on ...
read moreJosienne Clarke / Kit Downes: Such A Sky
Sometimes life's great pleasures creep up almost unnoticed. One day they're not there, next day it seems like they've been around forever. Such A Sky is one such pleasure. A five-track EP, it's the debut release from BBC Folk Award winning singer Josienne Clarke and Mercury Prize nominated keyboardist Kit Downes. Clarke announced the release of Such A Sky on her Twitter feed with a lovely lack of hyperbole: “I've made a little EP with pianoer Kit Downes ...
read moreBrian Marsella Trio: Buer: Book Of Angels Volume 31
How many angels are there? Alto saxophonist/composer John Zorn started his Masada Book Two, Book of Angels endeavor in 2005, with Astaroth: Book of Angels, Volume 1, by the Jamie Saft Trio. Thirty recordings and twelve years later, he offers up Buer: Book Of Angels, Volume 31, by the Brian Marsella Trio. A tune for every angel. That's a lot of angels. The always adventurous and prolific Zorn, who reportedly wrote three hundred songs for his Book of ...
read moreDaryl Hall & John Oates and Tears For Fears with special guest Allen Stone at the Prudential Center
Daryl Hall & John Oates and Tears For Fears with special guest Allen Stone The Prudential Center Newark, NJ June 17, 2017 On a pleasant Saturday evening in mid-June, the Hall & Oates/Tears For Fears co-headlining tour made its way to NJ's Prudential Center. It was definitely pop and soul night in Newark. The evening began with a dose of Pacific Northwestern soul and R&B as Allen Stone took the stage all by ...
read moreThievery Corporation at ARM Stadium - Macedonia 2017
Thievery Corporation ARM Stadium Skopje Calling Skopje, Macedonia June 20, 2017 It's been awhile since I witnessed a show like this. The ARM's stadium which is basically an open field resounded to plenty of driving beats, deep basses and expansive and hypnotic ambient sounds as Thievery Corporation in its expanded form delivered a sharp and hyper-energetic yet relaxed set. Thievery Corporation's music is an interesting amalgam of different sorts of musics. In ...
read morePittsburgh JazzLive International Festival 2017
Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival 2017 Pittsburgh, PA June 16-18, 2017 The complicated logistics and sizable costs associated with free jazz festivals have made them somewhat rarified these days. By its all-encompassing scope and scale, the Detroit Jazz Festival has served as a model for many decades now. But if you want something a bit earthier and intimate, there's really no equal for the atmosphere that envelops the Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival. Now in its seventh year, ...
read moreBill Cunliffe: BACHanalia
As the title denotes, pianist Bill Cunliffe and his ensemble take a swing (literally) at the great Johann Sebastian on BACHanalia, pivoting as well toward the music of C.P.E. Bach, Sergei Prokofiev, Manuel de Falla, Cole Porter, Oscar Levant and Cunliffe himself. In spite of its classical veneer, this is at its core a jazz session, and as such embodies the essential elements one would expect from such an enterprise. To phrase it another way, Cunliffe transports these masters of ...
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